Confessions of Frannie Langton

'Lush, gritty, wry, gothic and compulsive' Emma Donoghue 'Spectacular' Natasha Pulley'A moving, beguiling, gorgeously-written book' Kate Riordan'A star in the making' Sunday Times'Recalls the best of Sarah Waters' E C Fremantle'Extraordinary' Cathy Rentzenbrink'A stunning debut' Guardian__________________________________'They say I must be put to death for what happened to Madame, and they want me to confess. But how can I confess what I don't believe I've done?'1826, and all of London is in a frenzy. Crowds gather at the gates of the Old Bailey to watch as Frannie Langton, maid to Mr and Mrs Benham, goes on trial for their murder. The testimonies against her are damning - slave, whore, seductress. And they may be the truth. But they are not the whole truth.For the first time Frannie must tell her story. It begins with a girl learning to read on a plantation in Jamaica, and it ends in a grand house in London, where a beautiful woman waits to be freed.But through her fevered confessions, one burning question haunts Frannie Langton: could she have murdered the only person she ever loved?A beautiful and haunting tale about one woman's fight to tell her story, The Confessions of Frannie Langton leads you through laudanum-laced dressing rooms and dark-as-night back alleys, into the enthralling heart of Georgian London.__________________________________'A book of heart, soul and guts' Elizabeth Day'An 'emotionally honest' story of race in the 19th Century' As heard on BBC Woman's Hour'Dazzlingly original' The Times'Bold and powerful' Sunday Times'Gothic writing at its very best' Christine Mangan, author of Tangerine 'Prepare to pass it on to friend after friend' Stylist 'It resonates long after the final page has been turned' Laura Carlin, the author of The Wicked Cometh'Gothic fiction made brand new' Stef Penney, author of The Tenderness of Wolves'Tender and furious and wholly deserving of attention' Jessie Greengrass, author of Sight'A pitch-perfect gothic novel' Kate Riordan, author of The Girl in the Photograph'The Confessions of Frannie Langton pulls the gothic into new territory and links it back to its origins' Guardian 'A literary page-turner' Rebecca F. John, author of The Haunting of Henry Twist'From Charlotte Bront through Sarah Waters, Alias Grace and Jean Rhys's Wide Sargasso Sea, The Confessions of Frannie Langton draws on a wealth of literary influences' Observer